Making its position amply clear, Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday skipped a meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders called by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge today. Sources within TMC said that it proposes to raise six burning issues during the session, relating to price rise, unemployment, shortage of funds, situation in Manipur among others. However, Congress reportedly is interested in raising the issue of indictment of Adani alone and the TMC skipped the discussion over this.
The TMC then asserted its special status within the INDIA alliance by making it clear that it was not an electoral ally of the Congress. This has created a general sense in the party that it is not bound to attend meetings of the INDIA bloc if its core issues are not on the agenda.
Congress has been demanding the suspension of all parliamentary business to enable a discussion on the indictment of Adani Group directors by the US Department of Justice. Congress MP Manickam Tagore this morning submitted an Adjournment Motion notice in the Lok Sabha to further take up the Adani issue.
However, members from several parties, including Congress, have been demanding discussions on various issues, including damage caused by Cyclone Fengal, Sambhal violence in Uttar Pradesh over mosque survey, attacks on ISKCON monks in Bangladesh, and delay in paddy procurement in Punjab.
The Adani Group has denied charges of bribery against its chiefs including Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and senior executive Vneet Jaain. Gautam Adani told the group faced challenges earlier too and therefore “every attack makes us stronger.” Parliamentary functions are disrupted due to chaos and repeated adjournments on several days as the session is set to end on December 20.
Earlier, Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had said the party would continue to raise Bengal’s issues during the Winter Session. “Our stand is very clear. We will give priority to the issues of Bengal first. The Centre has blocked Bengal’s dues. We want discussions in Parliament on these issues. Go and ask Congress. I have said we will prioritize Bengal’s issues. What’s their stand?” he said.
We want Parliament to run. We don’t want to disrupt the House on just one issue. We will hold this government accountable on multiple counts,” added TMC’s senior MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar to drive home the point that her party does not believe in stalling Parliament.
TMC has already announced that it will raise the ongoing unrest in Manipur during the Winter Session, demanding urgent actions from the Centre to restore peace in the northeastern state.
